El Paso awaits judge's green light today to raze City Hall

AUSTIN -- A state district judge in Austin could rule today on whether the city of El Paso can move forward with plans to raze City Hall and build a minor-league baseball stadium in its place.

Travis County District Court Judge Tim Sulak on Tuesday extended deliberations another day as arguments about whether the city of El Paso can issue bonds to finance construction of a $50 million ballpark carried into the evening.

Attorneys for the city of El Paso and those opposed to the demolition of City Hall will wrap up their arguments at a 2 p.m. hearing today in Austin.

A decision from the 353rd District Court could end months of wrangling over the legality of the city's plan to build the stadium on the site of the current 10-story City Hall. On Tuesday, the city and its opponents laid out similar arguments to those they have maintained steadily throughout various legal challenges.

Opponents asked the judge to halt the demolition of City Hall, calling for the court to clear the path for voters to weigh in during a May 11 election. They also said the city building is in good shape and should not be torn down, continued to claim that the measure to demolish City Hall is unconstitutional and suggested that violence across the border in Juárez does not make the stadium's location ideal.

"It's not a straitjacket that we are seeking from the court," Jesus B. Ochoa, one of the opponents, said. "We ask for an injunction just to allow the people to vote.

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Attorneys for the city asked the court to allow El Paso to go ahead with plans for the ballpark that include demolishing City Hall, to weigh in on the legality of the decision and to rule that the city does not need to place the measure on the ballot for a vote.

Voters on Nov. 6 approved the ballpark as a venue project and established a hotel tax increase to help fund it. The city argues that at the time voters understood the plans to demolish City Hall and replace it with a baseball stadium for a Major League Baseball team's Triple-A affiliate.

"This gives rise to what is the contract with the voters," said M. Scott Incerto, an outside attorney from the law firm of Fulbright & Jaworski that is representing the city. "It wouldn't even be possible for the city to now spend bond proceeds to relocate at any other site."

City officials estimated that El Paso could lose up to $2 million in revenue and through increased construction costs if the project is delayed. Opponents argued that the figures were inflated.

The daylong hearing at times veered away from the issues that the state district judge is considering. Sulak at one point warned Ochoa to stick to the issues that were before the court.

"I'm trying to give you some latitude, but it is straying a bit too far afield," Sulak said as Ochoa went through what he called a history of the nearby Segundo Barrio neighborhood.

City attorneys asked the court for an expedited ruling that the bonds for the ballpark and its associated contracts are "lawful, valid and enforceable."

Under the plan, the city would issue the bonds, then repay the debt with the voter-approved increase to the hotel occupancy tax, as well as from lease payments, ticket surcharges and parking revenues, among other sources.

Some opponents, including Ochoa, attempted to delay the hearing Tuesday by asking for a jury trial but were turned down because they did not file the necessary paperwork and pay the fees for that request. Some opponents delayed Tuesday's hearing earlier this month after asking that the case be taken up in federal court. Those opponents were fined for the delay, and the case was returned to state court.

Attorneys for the city argued on Tuesday that the law allows local governments to request an expedited process because often opponents to projects across the state tie them up in the courts in an effort to kill them or make them financially prohibitive.

They said that those court cases "turned out to be the death nail of the project."

But El Pasoan Carl Starr, who opposes the demolition of City Hall, suggested that a decision allowing the city to move forward would be hasty.

Starr, who was not among the opponents that were fined for delaying the case, said the City Council already agreed to put a petition that calls for a vote on whether to demolish City Hall on the May 11 ballot. He said that since the council voted to include the measure on the ballot, the state district court should not make its decision until after the election.

The city is hoping that the district court will issue a declaration that it does not need to place the proposed initiative by objectors on the ballot because voters already cast ballots supporting the financing of the ballpark.

Sulak, the judge, said the request gave him "pause" and he would have to listen to further arguments and consider the law to determine whether he could rule on that matter.

Zahira Torres may be reached at ztorres@elpasotimes.com; 512-479-6606.

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